2984: The African Union (Mostly) Doesn’t Use African Languages Feb 21, 2025

The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, roughly corresponding to those spoken by the constituent countries, though of course not including minority languages like say, Basque. With arguably about 10 times the number of languages spoken in Africa as compared to Europe, the African Union (AU) only recognizes six official languages—Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and kiSwahili—with Swahili being the only native African language. The AU’s language policy also includes the phrase “and any other African language,” which provides flexibility for incorporating indigenous languages in official communication, translation, and regional governance but nothing has to be conducted in those languages. Technically, this means that while the six core languages dominate formal AU operations, other African languages can be used as needed  but for any official purposes as pertains to the AU will need to be translated into those other, mostly non-African languages. Ultimately, this is a pragmatic matter to provide the most linguistic coverage in Africa.